Nearly two dozen Open World alumni were elected or reelected to serve as members of parliament in Ukraine's snap parliamentary elections last month, according to a press release from the Open World Leadership Center. Representing a diverse political scope, including both single-mandate delegates and party lists, these Open World alumni have demonstrated key leadership roles within their government and communities.
Among the newly elected Open World alumni are single-mandate delegates:
Maksym Pashkovskyy, Servant of the People
Hosted in Birmingham, Alabama, April 2015
Position at the time of the program: founder/legal advisor, “Emergency Legal Services” Legal Clinic
Valeriy Hnatenko, Opposition Platform (former Party of Regions/Yanukovych Party)
Hosted in Louisville, Kentucky, May 2009
Position at the time of the program: mayor, Druzhkivka City Council
Volodymyr Areshonkov, Non-Affiliated
Hosted in Bethesda, Maryland, September 2009
Position at the time of the program: deputy head, Executive Committee Korosten City Council
Valeriy Lunchenko, Non-Affiliated
Hosted in Longwood, Florida, March 2012
Position at the time of the program: chief administrative officer, Khust City Council and member of Zakarpattya Region Legislature. In 2012, he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada, from the “Batkivshchyna” party list. In the snap elections in 2014, he was elected by the party list with “People’s Front.”
Oksana Savchuk, Freedom
Hosted in Omaha, Nebraska, May 2012
Position at the time of the program: methodologist, Youth Center of the National Scout Organization “PLAST”; deputy, Ivano-Frankivsk City Council; founder, Western region of the NGO “Ukrainian Women’s Democracy Network.” She was the only female single-mandate delegate from her party.
Oleksiy Honcharenko, Non-Affiliated
Hosted in Tempe, AZ, March 2011
Position at the time of the program: Vice Speaker, Odessa Region Legislature. In 2014 he was elected to the Verkhovna Rada.
Mariia Mezentseva, Servant of the People
Hosted in Springfield, Illinois, February 2018
Position at the time of the program: council member, Kharkiv City Council
Among the Open World alumni elected by party lists:
Iryna Venediktova, Servant of the People
Hosted in Lansing, Michigan, November 2013
Position at the time of the program: managing chair of civil disciplines, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
Serhii Babak, Servant of the People
Hosted in Modesto, California, March 2017
Position at the time of the program: head of laboratory, Scientific-Technical Center for Innovative Technologies, National Academy of Sciences
Iryna Vereshchuk, Servant of the People
Hosted in Charlotte, North Carolina, May 2013
Position at the time of the program: mayor, Rava Ruska City Council. She then became president of the International Centre for Black Sea-Baltic Studies and associate professor in the department of political science, National Pedagogical Dragomanov University.
Yana Zinkevych, European Solidarity
Hosted in Syracuse, New York, May 2019
Position at the time of the program: director, “Hospitaliery of Dnipro” Municipal Enterprise of Dnipro City Council. She is the first MP to use a wheelchair and a recipient of the Hero of the People of Ukraine award, the Order of Merit, Third Class, the For Saving Lives award, and the Martial Prowess award.
Oleh Synyutka, European Solidarity
Hosted in Kalamazoo, Michigan, June 2007
Position at the time of the program: deputy mayor, Ivano-Frankivsk City Council Executive Committee. In 2007, he became first deputy mayor of Lviv and in December 2014, he was appointed as the governor of Lviv Oblast.
Mykola Velychkovych, European Solidarity
Hosted in Lawrence, Kansas, October 2017
Position at the time of the program: member of parliament, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Ivan Krulko, Batkivshchyna
Hosted in Lawrence, Kansas, October 2017
Position at the time of the program: member of parliament, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; chair of the Subcommittee on State Financial Control. Served as vice president of the Atlantic Association of Young Political Leaders.
Alona Shkrum, Batkivshchyna
Hosted in Albany, New York, June 2016
Position at the time of the program: member of parliament, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Oleksandra Ustinova, Voice
Hosted in Baltimore, Maryland, December 2014
Position at the time of the program: public relations manager, Anti-Corruption Action Center. She was promoted to head of communications and Anti-Corruption in Health Care Projects at the Anti-Corruption Action Center and was a fellow with the Ukrainian Emerging Leaders Program at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.
Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Voice
Hosted in Longview, Texas, September 2017
Position at the time of the program: executive director, Transparency International Ukraine
Solomiya Bobrovska, Voice
Hosted in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 2012
Position at the time of the program: public relations manager; assistant to the head of the practical politics department, Center for Civil Liberties at the Institute for Political Education, NGO. She then served as the deputy governor to Mikheil Saakashvili in Odessa Oblast. Upon his resignation in 2016, she became the youngest acting governor in Ukraine’s history, at 26 years old. In September 2017, she co-founded the Center for Political and Legal Studies and was named one of Kyiv Post’s Top 30 Under 30.
Olha Stefanyshyna, Voice
Hosted in Sacramento, California, February 2017
Position at the time of the program: executive director, Charitable Foundation “Patients of Ukraine.” In January 2018, she was appointed the deputy minister of health of Ukraine.
Inna Sovsun, Voice
Hosted in Portland, Oregon, May 2009
Position at the time of the program: graduate student, National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy;” coordinator, community initiative “Save Old Kyiv.” In March 2014, she was appointed as the first deputy minister of education and science. In 2016, she became the vice president for public policy and governance at the Kyiv School of Economics and was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley.
